This invention relates to shelters for protection from the sun's rays and more particularly to a shelter which is portable and may be easily assembled and dismantled.
Shelters are known which are composed of a number of rods or tubes which interconnect to form a framework for a canopy. The rods or tubes may be disconnected so that the shelter may be carried by hand. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,930,534 to Hill, 2,036,033 to Fisher, 2,266,853 to Dabney and 4,739,784 to Fast are examples of such shelters.
Known shelters, such as those described in the above-noted patents, have a number of disadvantages. Some must be anchored to the ground and are not suitable for use on rock or on soil that is too hard for a pin or tent peg to penetrate. Others have no provision for adjustment of the angle of the roof of the shelter to take into account the position of the sun in the sky. If for example the sun is low in the sky, there is no way to adjust the angle of the roof to provide shade to the occupants of the shelter. Only by picking up the entire shelter and turning it so that its back faces the sun will it provide shade to the occupants.
Another shortcoming of many known shelters is that they are composed of a number of parts, many of which are quite small and easy to lose. Moreover because of the large number of parts, the shelters are complicated to assemble.
Another shortcoming of many known shelters is that they have hinges for permitting one part to pivot or rotate relative to another. If such shelters are used on a beach, sand and salt may impair the operation of the hinge.